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Shoe Review – Under Armor Spectre.
Light weight neutral racing shoe with an interesting midsole transition.
This is sold as a neutral training shoe. I got a pair from Jason who couldn’t run in them because they were very narrow. I usually run in a size 12 and these were a size 13, but I’ve found that you can run a size up without much fuss if you have too. It’s not the first time I have run in a size 13 (up to marathon distance).
I was looking at a low energy 12-13 miler with the dog so I figured “What the heck?” I’ll wear these shoes and see how they ride.
I put my orthotics in them and they initially were very tight – squeezing my foot in the middle. Obviously there was plenty of room in the toe box – being a size too big.
I’m a neutral, high mileage, Clydesdale with a fairly efficient midsole strike. Control shoes and stability shoes make my knees hurt. Because I’m a big guy people always try to talk me into control shoes – but I don’t need them. I also like a light shoe.
The course I ran was about 12.2 miles on trail and hilly asphalt. Typical New England roads and trails.
I was very jet lagged and tired, so my mechanics were sloppy and I was trying to heel strike. The first thing I noticed is that these shoes were not designed for a heel striker. They basically fought me when I tried to be lazy. However, when I cleaned up my stride and ran on the midsole they produced a nice natural roll-through and transition.
On the up-hills they were good, because of the forced form. On the down hills I didn’t notice anything bad.
After a few miles my feet won the battle and the shoes stretched out to be fine. I’d have to run in them again to see if they retained the shaping.
I took them off road too. I found the platform very wide and stiff for trail running – i.e. felt the shoe, not the ground. On the plus side the lugs gripped pretty well for a road shoe – but the side to side and ankle-roll were bad – as to be expected.
All-in-all I think they are more built for speed than a casual heel striker. I think I could race in them if I had the right size. I’m going to keep running in them and see what happens. Maybe I’ll run Boston in them! I’ll take them down the track for some tempo and see if that might not be their natural environment.
The main characteristic is that midsole ridge that forces your stride into a midsole transition. I think if you were up on your toes with a good heel kick that might be a plus – but the waddling heel-strikers among us would be frustrated.
I don’t know what other shoe I would compare them to. They are definitely a unique ride to anything I have run in.